NH looking more competitive — Kelly Ayotte's seen her appeal to moderate voters crumble in the wake of her endorsement by Sarah Palin and her lead over Paul Hodes has shrunk to its lowest level of any public polling in 2010- she has a 45-42 advantage over him, down from 47-40 in an April PPP poll.

Getting Lost in the Fog of War — ANYONE who has spent the past two days reading through the 92,000 military field reports and other documents made public by the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks may be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. I'm a researcher who studies Afghanistan …

What is Mr. Times saying? — In the Political Times article the Sunday before last, New York Times reporter Matt Bai regurgitated the hardy but convenient lie about the Tea Party movement: … On Sunday the Times published the following correction: … This is an interesting correction.

The Long Strategy — I was a liberal Democrat when I was young. I used to wear a green Army jacket with political buttons on it — for Hubert Humphrey, Birch Bayh, John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt. I even wore that jacket in my high school yearbook photo. — It's a magic green jacket.

Rep. Barney Frank causes scene demanding discount — Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he demanded a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island's popular gay haunt, The Pines, last Friday. Frank was turned down by ticket clerks at the dock in Sayville …

Lawmakers Question Salaries at Nonprofits — State and federal officials are starting to take their knives to the pay of leaders of nonprofit groups they do business with to help share the pain of tighter budgets. — A provision in New Jersey's recently passed budget, for example …

The Partisan Tools At Journo-List And Trig — Remember all those liberals and lefties huffily denouncing this blog's attempts to make sense of Sarah Palin's bizarre stories about the pregnancy and birth of her alleged fifth child? I was nuts, crazy, vile, disgusting, etc etc to indulge in what Dave Weigel …

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacks Octopus Paul — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian leader, says Paul the Octopus, the sea creature that correctly predicted the outcome of World Cup games, is a symbol of all that is wrong with the western world. — He claims that the octopus is a symbol of decadence and decay among “his enemies”.

Posting Record Loss, BP Confirms New Chief Executive — LONDON — BP named Robert Dudley as its next chief executive Tuesday and reported a record $17 billion loss in the second quarter as the company set aside billions of dollars to deal with the aftermath of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sestak: I'm not a liberal — Senate candidate casts himself as a pragmatist, Toomey as an ideologue. — HARRISBURG — Joe Sestak continued Monday to distance himself from Nancy Pelosi while at the same time tying his Republican opponent Pat Toomey to George W. Bush.

Former Body-Armor Executive on Trial for Fraud — Several years ago, David H. Brooks, the chief executive and chairman of a body-armor company enriched by United States military contracts, became fixated on the idea of a memory-erasing pill. — It was not just fanciful curiosity.

Why Elizabeth Warren Will Likely Be Confirmed — Administration, Hill, and industry sources do the math on what could be the summer's most contentious confirmation battle. — Last week, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd aroused the ire of progressive activists …

Daughter urges Okla. voters to not vote for father — OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma judicial candidate is fending off a political attack from his daughter, who has taken out a local newspaper ad urging voters: “Do not vote for my dad!” — Mantooth said the bad blood stems from his 1981 divorce from his daughter's mother.